Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has announced that LGBT citizens will be able to register their relationships with the federal government.

"The LGBT community have the
constitutional right to register on their union," Correa said during his
weekly report. Previously, the Ecuadoran Civil Registry did not
recognize these unions because they had no legal status according to
law, however Correa said that from now on this right has to be respected
and if denied, the authorities will take action on the matter. However,
Correa said that although he supports these unions, he don't support
gay marriage, which according to him corresponds to the union between a
man and a woman. But he said he is committed to guarantee the rights of
all Ecuadorans. Correa, a Catholic leftist, has expressed his opposition
to same-sex marriage and adoption of children by gay couples in
previous occasions. The Ecuadoran Constitution grants equal rights to
"cohabitation partnerships" regardless if they are civil or Catholic
marriages, so the LGBT community gains more legal recognition with this
legislation.

Same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples or individuals remains banned in the national constitution.

Federal appeals judges bristled
Tuesday at arguments defending gay marriage bans in Indiana and
Wisconsin, with one Republican appointee comparing them to now-defunct
laws that once outlawed weddings between blacks and whites. Judge
Richard Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, was
dismissive when Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Timothy Samuelson
repeatedly pointed to 'tradition' as the underlying justification for
barring gay marriage. "It was tradition to not allow blacks and whites
to marry — a tradition that got swept away," Posner said. Prohibition of
same sex marriage, he said, is "a tradition of hate ... and savage
discrimination."

Posner frequently cut off Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fischer, just
moments into his presentation and chided him to answer his questions.
At one point, Posner ran through a list of psychological strains of
unmarried same-sex couples, including having to struggle to grasp why
their schoolmates' parents were married and theirs weren't. "What
horrible stuff," Posner said. What benefits to society in barring gay
marriage, he asked, "outweighs that kind of damage to children?" The
answer has to do with "procreation," Fisher answered. "All this is a
reflection of biology," Fisher said. "Men and women make babies,
same-sex couples do not... we have to have a mechanism to regulate that,
and marriage is that mechanism."

The ACLU and Lambda Legal have essentially reiterated their equal
protection arguments in appeals court filings, arguing that the bans
deny gay couples state and federal legal protections and benefits that
married straight couples enjoy. "The freedom to marry is a core aspect
of personal liberty for all Americans," the ACLU said in its briefs.
There was some levity during the hearing. As Samuelson struggled to
offer a specific reason for how gay marriage bans benefit society, he
suddenly noted a yellow courtroom light signaling his allotted time was
up. "It won't save you," Williams told him, prompting laughter in court.
Samuleson smiled, saying "it was worth a try."

"True
service is a fragrance of the Being. It is a light that emanates from
your understanding. At a certain stage of the journey, you are able to
practice service as an intelligent austerity, which is a spiritual
practice that purifies selfishness. You choose to create some friction
in order to provoke your ‘no's’ towards love. Since it is a choice, I
call it an ‘intelligent’ austerity because it is born out of your
intelligence and comprehension. It is bitter medicine, but it works, so
you decide to try it out."